MAYOR PROPOSAL TO STAY ON BALLOT UNTIL RULING

A three-judge panel will hear the appeal next month of a Broward Circuit Court ruling ordering the mayoral referendum off the ballot.

The referendum will remain on the March 14 presidential primary ballot until a 4th District Court of Appeal ruling. At that time, the court could order Supervisor of Elections Jane Carroll to not count absentee ballots already distributed and to strike the issue from the ballot.

When the appeals court judges meet to hear arguments Feb. 22, they will have the future of Broward government in their hands. The referendum would have a mayor run the county, replacing the administration of seven county commissioners.

The judges will consider Wednesday whether to overturn Circuit Judge Patti Englander Henning's ruling, which canceled the referendum. She said the referendum violated state law, which requires the wording of ballots to be "clear and unambiguous."

Henning called the wording on the ballot written by the state Legislature misleading because it didn't explain the tremendous changes that would take place in government if the measure passed.

Meanwhile, the anti-mayor Broward Citizens for Good Government decided tentatively during a meeting Friday to hire a lawyer specializing in appeals to help civil rights lawyer Johnny McCray in the lawsuit.

It was McCray's lawsuit, with Commissioner Carlton Moore of Fort Lauderdale as the plaintiff, that resulted in the referendum being ruled illegal.

The group hoped that Bruce Rogow, a Nova Southeastern University law professor and a renowned appeals court specialist, would join the appeal on their side.

The Florida Attorney General's Office will defend the ballot wording for the state Legislature.

Buddy Nevins can be reached at bnevins@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4571.